Senior AI Engineer

The MITRE Corporation; McLean (VA); On-site; USD 144,000 - 215,000; Full time

Job summary

The Mitre Corporation in McLean, VA is seeking a Senior AI Engineer to develop, evaluate, and clearly communicate AI/ML results. This on-site role emphasizes rapid prototyping and solving complex problems while sharing knowledge across the team.

Required 5+ years in related fields with strong AI/Data Science skills, including LLMs, NLP, CV, and ML. Top Secret/SCI with polygraph clearance and 3 days/week on site are required.

Qualifications

• Typically 5+ years of related experience with a Bachelor's.
• 3+ years with a Master's; or a PhD with relevant experience.
• Hands-on proficiency in AI/Data Science including Large Language Models, NLP, Computer Vision, and ML approaches such as supervised, unsupervised, deep learning, and reinforcement learning.

Responsibilities

• Rapidly prototype and evaluate AI/ML approaches to determine feasibility for projects.
• Lead simple projects or guide tasks within complex programs, including planning and mentoring others.
• Work independently with minimal instruction and direction when contributing.
• Identify and resolve complex problems using data science and AI techniques.
• Share advanced knowledge with the team and others.
• Communicate complex results through written and verbal updates for technical and non-technical audiences.

Skills

Large Language Models

Python

C/C++

Java

Scala

Julia

Rust

NLP

Computer Vision

Supervised learning

Unsupervised learning

Deep learning

Reinforcement learning

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

PhD

Tools

Spark

Hadoop

Ray

Dask

Kafka

Airflow

Dagster

NiFi

Docker

Job description

The Mitre Corporation is seeking a Senior AI Engineer to develop, evaluate, and clearly communicate results for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning solutions. This role emphasizes hands-on work, rapid prototyping, and the ability to tackle complex technical problems while sharing advanced knowledge across the team. The position is based in McLean, VA (onsite).

Salary range: USD 143,600 - 215,400 per year (midpoint: $179,500). Experience: typically 5+ years in a related field.

What you'll do

• Rapidly prototype and evaluate AI/ML approaches to determine feasibility and support project needs.
• Lead simple projects or take accountability for tasks within complex programs, including planning and guiding others' work.
• When operating as a contributor, work independently with minimal instruction and direction.
• Identify and resolve complex problems, applying new perspectives to existing solutions and using judgment across Data Science and AI.
• Leverage advanced expertise in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence and share knowledge with others.
• Communicate complex results through writing and verbal updates for both technical and non-technical audiences.

Required qualifications

• Typically a minimum of 5 years of related experience with a Bachelor's; or 3 years with a Master's; or a PhD with relevant experience who can contribute immediately; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Hands-on proficiency in AI/Data Science techniques including Large Language Models, Natural Language Processing, Computer Vision, and other ML approaches such as supervised, unsupervised, deep learning, and reinforcement learning.
• Computer programming skills in one or more languages such as Python, C/C++, Java, Scala, Julia, Rust.
• Security clearance: must have an active Top Secret/SCI with polygraph. U.S. citizenship is required to be considered for a security clearance.
• On-site requirement: minimum 3 days per week.

Technical focus areas

The role spans a broad set of AI and data capabilities, including:

• Machine Learning and model evaluation
• Large Language Models and techniques such as Prompt Engineering, Few-Shot Learning, Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), and LLM fine-tuning and hosting
• Agentic AI frameworks and approaches
• DevOps for AI
• Computer Vision topics such as object detection, image classification, and diffusion models
• Natural Language Processing including encoders, summarization, classification, entity recognition, and topic modeling
• Databases across SQL, NoSQL, vector, and graph systems
• Data engineering for distributed processing and orchestration (for example Spark, Hadoop, Ray, Dask, Kafka, Airflow, Dagster, and NiFi)
• MLOps practices such as model deployment, monitoring, reproducibility, and containerization

Preferred qualifications

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Data Science, or a related field with 3 years of relevant experience.
• Alternatively, a PhD in a related field.

Clearance requirements

• Candidate must have a minimum clearance of: Top Secret/SCI/Polygraph.
• Candidate must have or obtain within one year from the date of hire: Top Secret/SCI/Polygraph.